Solicitors Recommendation - Arggh

Debt_Free_Chick

You will pay the following costs, no matter what
These are not part of your solicitors fees for doing the conveyancing - they are third party costs that you pay via your solicitor.

Searches 35.25
Pre-Completion Searches - 20
Land Registration Fee - 150.00
Stamp duty 1345
Inland revenue Form 58.75

Total = £1,609.00
(But the total for searches looks low!)

You might get the following cost a little cheaper
Indeminity Insurance 76.38 (if you really need it)

These are the fees your solicitor is charging. Use this as a comparison for quotes from other solicitors

recommendation fee 150.00
Costs 249
VAT on solicitors fees

In the current case, the solicitor's fee is the amount you were quoted - £399. But it seems that the solicitor is passing on £150 to the broker (as a reward for getting him a new client) - and there doesn't seem to be VAT charged on this. As Bossyboots says, I would expect you to pay VAT on the whole lot ....

I would use £399 as a comparison with other solicitors - and I doubt you'll get it much lower than that.

If you have only budgeted for £700 in total, then you are already £900 short on the third party costs, before you even pay the solicitor and the premium for the indemnity policy.

BUT
I think the searches will probably cost more - and other searches might then be needed. You'll pay for the money transfer (£25-35) and also the survey - unless you've already taken care of that.

Sorry, but your budget is incorrect and probably has been since "day one"

Oddgy

Bossyboots wrote:

That is excessively cheap and isn't even likely to cover the fee earner's time. How have you achieved a deal like that?

My Fiancee is the fee earners secretary! Just a shame she has to pay anything really.....!! Other solictors in the areas dont charge their employees at all - but unfortunately we are not that looky...even tho we are in a way!!

She is doing everything as normal, (so thats an advantage)she may as well be the fee earner....!!

Debt_Free_Chick

Oddgy wrote:

My Fiancee is the fee earners secretary! Just a shame she has to pay anything really.....!! Other solictors in the areas dont charge their employees at all - but unfortunately we are not that looky...even tho we are in a way!!

She is doing everything as normal, (so thats an advantage)she may as well be the fee earner....!!

Whilst you've clearly got a good deal, it isn't really comparable to the actual fees that the rest of us have to pay.

For the purpose of the OP, she can't compare any quotes she gets with the fee you're paying.

jodenice

Right - when I said I'd budgeted £700 in total, this was not including the Stamp Duty! My current broker is pretty fab and although he said it was a conflict of interest for him to recommend a specific solicitor after I begged he did have a look around and spoke to his 'financial friends' and gave me some names and details - I have now had a quote of £735 which is all inclusive and includes any leasehold premium.

Oddgy

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Whilst you've clearly got a good deal, it isn't really comparable to the actual fees that the rest of us have to pay.

For the purpose of the OP, she can't compare any quotes she gets with the fee you're paying.

Oh i know, i didnt meant to confuse the OP i was just stating that we had a good deal, where as recently we have had so much bad luck in things costing us money that it is quite nice we have some luck in this aspect that was all.

Sorry OP.

Bossyboots

DFC - I think the indemnity insurance is a charge by the solicitor towards the cost of the firm's indemnity policy, not a policy needed for the property she is buying.

The £58.75 is not a third party cost but the fee for completing the form for the OP by the solicitor isn't it?

jodenice - I am either too cynical or you are too naive but I wouldn't have believed for one minute that your broker has asked around. He undoubtedly uses a short list of solicitors who pay him for referrals by the looks of it. That is why you have an additional £150 in fees to pay that most people won't encounter.

I agree that Oddgy's fees are not relevant to the OP. I did wonder if they were staff rates and not available to everyone which was why I asked.

jodenice

No the fees I showed were for my previous broker who was tied into a solicitor (they were also the solicitors for his packaging company) and they were the ones for lots of fees. This one though, from the list that my current broker sent me, fingers crossed, doesn't look too bad. I can manage £725 + stamp duty. Its when it creeps up to over a £1000 + stamp duty that I started to panic.

jodenice

PS Oddgy no apology needed, am happy that one of us isn't paying loads anyway - shame you couldn't get it completely free!